


Blowing In the Wind

by Happynuke



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 03:14:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2566256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happynuke/pseuds/Happynuke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A jaded Turian commander and a young human slave make an unlikely team for saving the universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A long time ago I wrote bits and pieces of a story kind of similar to this one, but the characters just never meshed right . Last week I was going through some old files on my computer and found it and had a bit of inspiration strike. After some tugging and tweaking I wrote the first chapter in what I think will be a longer piece of fiction. I'm counting on readers leaving comments on here so I can maintain the same amount of steam for when I inevitably can't figure out what happens next.

_In 2157 The humans began the first contact war by activating Relay 314. The war may have been chalked up to an incident based on misunderstanding, but humanity refused to negotiate. By the time the council had intervened an incident had turned into full scale war between humanity, and a far more technologically superior Turian empire. Still, humanity stayed in the dogfight for five years. It was the battle of New York, in which Commander Garrus Vakarian established his reputation, that decided the final fate of humanity, and they were subjugated under the rule of the Turian empire. The battle of New York led to a massive loss of human life, as did the war as a whole. However, the ultimate result of galactic peace made the total costs to both sides worthwhile._

_-A Turian Citizen's Guide To Modern Warfare (Educational Edition)_

_If you were to ask me, the human species is entirely beyond hope. There is an inordinate amount of disorder; humans with no allegiance are common. Lying, turn coating, and otherwise traitorous behaviors are the norm. Look at their planet- They've nearly destroyed themselves! How can we make peace with these people?_

_If you ask me the human race deserves worse than subjugation; They deserve annihilation. We are being merciful. In a certain light, we are even their liberators._

_-General Haimus, 2159_

_They are prone to lying cheating and manipulation. Physically they are a robust species, but mentally it is doubtful they will ever match turians either in ethics or intelligence. They are suitable enough soldiers, but not fit for command. Humanity is not a species of leaders. Much like the Krogan, they are a tool in the hands of more capable species. In a few hundred years of turian leadership, we may see a change. This can only be accomplished by a total and complete breakdown of human culture. They must be absorbed and assimilated, and, until that process is complete, equality is nothing but a dream for them. Even the most basic citizenship is beyond them._

_-The Private Correspondence of Pimarch Fulius, 2160_

**New Terra Nova, 2182**

It was nine in the morning when Stephen Neilson came to work. The streets were full of activity. There was always work to be done on New Terra Nova. It was, after all the only hope of humanity. Men and women operated vehicles, building new huts, and buildings. New Terra Nova was nothing if not a growing community. Nielson encouraged citizens to reproduce as quickly as possible, and refugees still arrived sometimes, though that had lessened as the turians tightened their collective grip around humanities neck.

Factories sent steam up to the sky as they created vehicles, explosives, and ammunition. All the tools needed to create a war. And war was coming. Nielson only had to figure out how best to attack.

Nielson had arrived in asari space with but a handful of terrified colony dwellers, he had picked up from the burning remains of their homelands. The Asari had extended the offer of a planet within their space in hopes that a peace agreement would be reached and humanity could return home. Over the two years of the war, however, it became apparent that the result would be subjugation, not treaty. New humans were escaping and arriving by the day. The loan eventually turned into a show of human support by the asari. Even as the war resolved and humanity toiled under turian whips, the gift remained. 

Stephen Neilson prided himself on this little area of human control. He had taken them from a few frightened humans to a bustling colony and soon they would become an army.

Today, however, Neilson was not happy. He tapped his fingers on the windowsill, before rotating his chair around to face the visitor.

“We have allies,” he said deliberately, “We have an entire Asari faction that sees the evil of what humanity has faced and overcome. We have salarians who have helped us overcome the technological challenges of starting from scratch. We even have batarian allies, who would help us if only to spite the turians. What makes you think we can't win?”

He had been over this a dozen times with Matriarch Benezia and both of their tempers were short.“You have allies, but how deep does their allegiance run? Your allies hang by a thread. The turians will not free humanity without a fight. You are but one outpost-the only outpost- of human resistance. I advise patience. Build your forces, and as you grow, your people will come home to you.”

“No.” Neilson sneered, “I've had enough patience. I watched turians kill my family and friends, my wife, my child.” The last word choed in the room. “I've no time for your patience. Did you really travel all of this way to propose we wait?”

“No.”

“Then why would you arrive unannounced only to remind me we do not have the power necessary to re-gain our empire.”

“Because,” Benezia said, “I have another solution. But it is rash, it will not be easy, and it will require asacrifice beyond what has ever been asked of you.” Nielson looked up and raised an eyebrow. After a long moment he walked from behind his desk and sat at the couch. He gestured for Benezia to have a seat. 

“What do you propose?”

Benezia sat down delicately. “Have you ever heard of the reapers?”


	2. Chapter 2

Eden Prime, 2183

Mara Shepard sat outside the tiny colony house and took a bite of an apple. She let out a long sigh and leaned against the prefab. From inside she could hear the low rumble of turian voices arguing. Her master was in there. They had arrived early this morning in a rush. This was the normal base of operation for General Amantus, but he stayed away for such long stretches. Mara had known that they were originally not to arrive back for another week. Yesterday their plans had changed so abruptly that they had been hard pressed to find a flight back. 

“How long you think they've been in there?” Her companion, Nirali Bhatia, asked. Bhatia was a petite woman obviously from somewhere on Old Earth's Middle east before the invasion. The third in the little party was Jenkins. He was the youngest of the three bodyguards.

Shepard shrugged, “Probably an hour or so.” She leaned over and punched Jenkin's shoulder. 

“Wake up kid. They see you dozing and you're done. That's how I got my scar.” She referenced the thin scar that ran from right eyebrow to left cheekbone.

“Is not,” Bhatia said. “You said you got it during the war.”

Shepard shrugged. “Can't remember where I got it.” She said. 

“Could have been with the slavers. Weren’t you working with them for a while.”

“Not by choice.” Shepard grimaced. That wasn’t a time she wished to spend much time remembering. “What's got your eyelids weighed down?” She asked, smoothly changing the subject.

Jenkins sighed and stood up. “He spent last night a whorehouse. I had to guard the door. I barely slept.”

Shepard shrugged. “Could be worse.” She and Bhatia exchanged a look. They had both experienced worse. 

“How long you been with this one, kid?” Bhatia asked finally.

“My whole life. He put me through training.”

Shepard nodded. “That's lucky.” Jenkins was too young to have any solid memories of the war. Shepard had been fifteen when New York had finally fallen and she had been part of the first wave of turian enslavements. A decade later even her memories of pre-war life were strange and blurry. It had begun when she was barely out of babyhood. It had caused her to skip childhood and charge straight into the adult world.

Bhatia nodded in agreement, “Definitely lucky. I’ve been sold,” she ticked off on her fingers a moment, “three times? Four?”

Shepard nodded, “about the same for me.” She sneered at the memory. She hated being sold. She hated the way the turians looked at her people like animals. The first time she had been sold had been the worst by far, but each successive sale had held it's own degradation.

“Have you seen much of the galaxy? Lucian stays here. I've barely been off the planet.” Jenkins looked between the two women hopefully. “I'm dying for some travel.”

Bhatia let out an amused huff of air. “There's not much to see, kid.”

Shepard shrugged, “Every world is about the same. Turian masters and human slaves. Now if you left council space...maybe went to Omega or Thessia or something...” She trailed off. “Not that I would do that.” She added the last bit hastily. Any sign of treachery in a Turian slave earned a quick trip to the mines or even death. She had spent too much time clawing her way up the ladder, at least as high as humans were allowed.

She had earned a place as a bodyguard to a Turian general by the name of Amantus. He wasn't a kind man, but she had gained a certain amount of power. Turians respected her for her prowess in combat, and in Amantus's absence she ran his household.

“So here's what I want to know,” she said after a moment. “Three of the most powerful Turians in the galaxy are hanging out in a shitty colony pre-fab. Why?”

Jenkins looked edgy. Shepard met his eyes. “You live here kid. What do you know?”

“I don't know anything.” He glanced down at his intertwined hands.

“Dish it, kid.” Bhatia said. “What's happening in there.”

“Well, I guess I don't know everything,” Jenkins amended slowly. “But I heard that they found something down at the dig site. Something old. Like Prothean old.”

Bhatia leaned back. “No shit?”

Jenkins shook his head. “But you didn't hear anything fr-” He stopped abruptly. “Fuck is that?” He pointed up at the sky.

Bhatia followed his gesture and gasped. Shepard was the last to look. Her eyebrows raised in surprise an she leaned forward squinting into the setting sun as it was eclipsed by the largest ships she had ever seen. 

“It looks like some kind of hand,” Jenkins said.

“More like a cockroach,” Shepard narrowed her eyes and headed for the pre-fab. She pounded loudly on the outside. She heard her master call for her to enter. 

All three Turians looked at her when she entered, their eyes narrowed. “What?” Amantus asked.

“Sirs,” Shepard bowed her head. “There's a ship arriving. It's not Turian and it's unscheduled.”

Amantus brushed past her and looked up at the sky. He wasn’t prone to fits of emotions, but she could see concern in the way he carried himself. “Shepard, take these two and go downhill. I'll send you coordinates for the dig site. You'll find an artifact there. A beacon.” He turned and looked her in the eye. “Stay away from it, but protect it with your life.”

Shepard felt the tingling sensation that meant her biotic locking collar had been released. She stretched her neck and flexed a hand in front of her testing out the biotic field.

One of the other turians made a gesture. “That beacon is more valuable than the three of you combined. If you come back and it's gone, I’ll take it out of your hide.”

“Understood.”

“Good girl. Go.”  
*****  
Commander Garrus Vakarian hadn't expected to put boots on the ground today. At least not in preparation for combat. This was supposed to be an easy transfer. Show up. Nab the beacon. Get it to the ship and head out.

That was before the distress beacons had started going off. That had been closely followed by a message from Generals Amantus, Lucian and Fulvius. Strange ship sighted. Hostile intent suspected. We've sent our personal bodyguards to the beacons.

“So the real question is,” he mused aloud, “Why our generals didn't go themselves.”

His Lieutenant, Nyreen Kandros snorted. “Why do something yourself when you could send a few slaves?”

Kaiden Alenko, a recent addition to his ship nodded. “It does make a certain amount of sense. Even if it is bullshit.”

The question of human enslavement had left the turian empire divided. It had been impossible to deny the industrial and economic benefits of a slave race. But some turians, Garrus included, pointed out that slavery had left the empire fat and lazy with generals that no longer remembered how to aim a gun, much less hit a target. There were days Garrus regretted the downfall of the humans. Any race that could fight so hard with so little technology deserved to go down dignity, not whither beneath the whip.

He had a few humans on his ship. A pilot who went by the name of Joker and a Alenko, a biotic. Both were slaves of the turian empire, but Garrus gave them a wide variety of freedoms not enjoyed by most slaves. At port they came and went from the ship, their communications were unmonitored, and he had absolutely forbidden them from calling him master. Additionally he saw to it that they received a small salary for saving and discretionary spending.

“So which way, commander?” Kaidan asked.

Garrus checked his map and gestured for his squad to follow. He took it slow, expecting ambush. If there was an unannounced arrival at the same time as a find of this magnitude, nothing good could happen. Despite his best precautions, they were surprised by the first attack.. At first Garrus thought they were some kind of hovering drone, but when the first machine appeared he had a gut feeling.

“These are geth!” he called to Kaidan and Nyreen.  
   
“Impossible,” Nyreen said, “They haven't been seen outside the veil in a few hundred years.”

“And yet,” Garrus responded as he sighted the last one, “Here they are.” He squeezed the trigger and the things head erupted in a hail of sparks and shrapnel.

He could still hear the wheezing robotic sounds of geth. He motioned for silence and crawled towards the edge of an overhang. Through the sights of his rifle he saw her: a human female, lightly armored. She was behind a rock and peering out as the geth held what he guessed was one of her companions. Garrus recognized the distinct blue haze of biotics around her. When they drove a spike through the dead woman's stomach she seemed to lose her sense of control. The biotic field flared around her and she shouldered a shot gun.

It was a dumb mistake. He had seen humans make them throughout the war. When faced with extinction, humans acted impulsively out of fear. And if he did nothing, this mistake was enough to kill this human. She caught the first geth in the body with a shot gun blast and it crumbled. The second she handled with a singularity field, but she hadn't even noticed the one behind her until Garrus took it down. She spun, surveying it's metallic corpse, then looked around for the shooter.

Garrus motioned for his team and jogged down the hill. She he reached the human she was leaning aginst a boulder catching her breath. She was dressed in simple black light armor with a matching helmet. She straightened when she saw him and released the air seals.  
   
“Sir,” She bowed her head down, and slightly to the right, showing the curve of her neck. Her skin was olive and her short dark hair was black as night. She might have been pretty, but the lines on her face were hard and her face was scarred. Still, Her eyes were captivating; they were large and made of molten gold. They were the kind of eyes that saw everything and concealed everything. 

“Thank you,” She was saying. “I thought I was done.” She was out of breath and high on adrenaline.

“Are you from General Amantus?”

She took a deep breath. “Apologies sir. I am General Amantus' bodyguard, Mara Shepard. He sent me to protect the artifact. There were two others but,” She made a helpless gesture. “They're dead.”

“What attacked you?”

“There was nothing and then then we were surrounded.” She continued and then paused, chewing her lip, “We never heard them. Never saw them. They just appeared.”

Garrus nodded. “You'll come with us to recover the artifact. Be ready.”

He walked away and beckoned to Nyreen. He motioned vaguely with one hand, “Kaidan, check on her.”


	3. Chapter 3

Kaiden knew what scared looked like. He had worked for the Commander since he had left BAaT training. But between that and the human slaves he had seen since, he had plenty of experience looking at fear.

This woman was scared. A weaker woman would have been paralyzed by it, but this one seemed as if she had been almost energized by it. She brushed a sweaty strand of hair out of her face and looked around.

He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a high calorie protein bar. “Hungry?”

She nodded and he tossed it her way. She wolfed it down with enough hunger that Kaidan wished he had brought another. 

“Are you hurt?” he asked. 

She shook her head. “I’ll live.”

There was a cut on her cheek weeping a drop of blood to her neck. He studied her critically, than tapped a button on her omnitool linking her suit up to theirs and activating the medi-gel injectors.

“How are your shields?”

She glanced down at her ‘tool. “Re-energizing. I’m at 93% and rising.”

“Ninety three aye. And biotics?”

A biotic field expanded around her and then collapsed. “I’m good.”

She was shaken, but she was tough. She was going to be okay. “What’s your name?”

“Shepard. Mara.” 

“I’m Kaidan, That’s Lieutenant. Kandros and Commander Vakarian.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean, the…?”

He nodded. “Don’t panic. Just do your job.” Vakarian was one of the most well known turian military figures during the war. Vakarian had been the one who gave the final orders to march on New York. If it hadn’t been for that final march the humans might have held out long enough to make peace. New York hadn’t been a battle. It had been a blood bath.

Garrus half turned. “Are we ready?”

The woman exhaled again. “The day gets crazier and crazier.”

“Just do your job, and we’ll get through.”

She nodded, touched her shotgun. She stroked the handle almost tenderly, then nodded. “I’m ready.”

Kaidan gave a thumbs up to the commander and the unit began a slow descent down the hill. The geth rose up before them. She was a valuable fighter, but Kaidan couldn’t get a read on where she was from.

She hadn’t been government trained. The streamlined government pipeline was for distance combat. The biotic stayed up and away, controlling the field. The turian government emphasized discipline and control. Shepard’s instincts took her into the fray wielding both shot gun and biotics with barely controlled, but powerful strikes. 

More than once he caught himself staring. The four soldiers were quiet except for a few barked commands and the sharp cracks of gunfire. When the last get folded Garrus motioned Shepard and Nyreen into the site. 

There was a long tense moment. “All clear.” Nyreen called. 

“Ditto,” Shepard said after a moment. “Clear.”

It was a slip from the tight language of combat used in the turian military, confirming Kaidan’s suspicions. He jogged just behind Garrus as they hurried toward Kandros and Shepard. 

“She’s good.” Gars commented. “Very good. But not from us.”

“Agreed Sir,” Kaidan said, “Turian military doesn’t train like that.”

“Do you know of anyone who does?”

“No. I’ll look into it at your request.”

Garrus nodded. “I want to know where Amantus is getting his people.” 

“I can look into it.”

“And I want to look into acquiring her.” 

Kaiden didn’t let the grimace affect his tone. “Understood.” Over a dozen years and he still hadn’t gotten used to the buying and selling of human flesh. Still, he wouldn’t mind getting to know Mara Shepard.

“Sir,” Noreen called over the communications system. “We need you down here ASAP.”

“Sit-rep”

“We found Nihlus. There was some kind of fight, but not with geth. Sir, Nihlus is dead.”

Garrus sped up and Kaidan followed, stunned. If Nihlus was dead this mission had gone much worse then they had initially speculated on arrival. Fucked up wouldn’t begin to describe it. 

The job was supposed to have been a simple loading operation. Not a single bullet was anticipated to be fired. Now they were in the middle of combat against artificially intelligent machines that hadn’t been seen in three centuries. 

This was turning out to be quite the day. 

Noreen hadn’t lied. The Spectre was facedown. There was another human beside him, also dead and in unfamiliar armor. Shepard was examining it, a strange expression on her face.

Lt. Kandros started filling them in as soon as they were in earshot. There was a battle. He was outnumbered and up against a combined tactics squad. There were at least two biotic there. They took him down, but not without a fight. Probably caught him off guard.”

Vakarian shook his head. “Damn.” He glanced at Shepard, “what do you know?”

Shepard shook her head, “Nothing for sure, sir.”

“Then what do you guess?”

Kaiden met her eyes and looked down at the body. He knew they were thinking the same thing.

“The armor has the human resistance symbol on it, sir.” Kaiden said after a beat. He pointed at the tiny snarling dog on the corner of shoulder plate. 

Shepard nodded. “There have been a few sightings on other worlds. Nothing major. Terrorist attacks starting a few months ago. No casualties to the turians.” She shrugged. “They petered out. It was assumed they were retreating back to New Terra Nova. We hadn’t heard anything from Cerberus-“

“Cerberus?” Kandros cut in.

“That’s what they call themselves,” Shepard said. “They’ve got a new guy in charge. Goes by Neilson.”

“I see.” Vakarian said. His eyes were narrowed and Kaidan knew he was evaluating whether she was telling him everything.

“How do you know all this?” Kandros asked.

Shepard straightened, lifting her chin ever so slightly. I am the leader of security for General Amantus,; knowing threats to this planet is part of my job description.”

Kaidan detected a note of pride in her voice. Lt. Kandros raised an eyebrow. She obviously didn’t place much trust in the female.

“We’ll need to investigate this further,” Garrus said, “Later. Our primary objective hasn’t changed.” He shouldered his rifle, “We need to-“

He stopped. Shepard drew her pistol and pivoted, pointing the weapon towards a crate.

“Come out!” She called hoarsely. “Let me see your damned hands.”

The kid who emerged from behind the crate couldn’t have been older than sixteen and he was shaking. Shepard lowered her weapon. “What are you doing here Evan?”

“You know him?” Nyreen asked. She still had her weapon up.

“He’s just a kid.” Shepard said. “Works down here at the docks.”

Garrus shook his head, “Thanks for helping with all those get. You really saved our asses.”

“Me?!” The boy look shocked, “what was I supposed to do?”

Shepard shrugged, “Anything besides nothing. What the hell were you doing back there anyways?”

The boy flushed. Shepard shook her head. Kaiden could see the concern on her face. The colony wasn’t large. Kaiden had no doubt she knew almost everyone here. She looked concerned for his sake.

“I was tired, so sometimes I uh…I…take a quick little nap, but then there were geth and I was afraid. I didn’t know what to do.”

Shepard sighed looked up at the sky. One hand was resting loosely on her pistol. Kaiden wondered if she was expecting an order to kill. He had never seen Vakarian do that, but if he was going to, now would be the time.

“People died, your people and my people,” he said quietly, “and you survived because you were taking a nap. Because you were lazy.”

The boy looked down at his feet. 

“Can you give us anything useful?” Garrus said after a moment, “Do you know what happened to the beacon?”

“The guy, Neilson they called him, he loaded it onto the train and headed for the docks.”

Garrus looked at the boy for a long moment. Then he turned. “Leave him. Let’s move out.”

Kaiden breathed a sigh of relief. Vakarian was a just master, but when he took vengeance there was no mercy in him. He had a rage in him that could eclipse all reason. Kaiden made it a point to stay on the commanders good side and reap the benefits. He had never been abused, or hungry, or in too much danger since leaving BAaT. That was more than most could say. 

They made it to the train. Kandros and Vakarian stood near the front. Shepard took a seat a few rows behind them. “ETA’ll be twenty minutes or so,” she said quietly. 

Kaiden nodded and took a seat next to her.

“You knew that kid?” he asked.

She nodded, “I know everyone around here. I try to take care of as many of them as I can.”

“It’s not often a human knows as much as you do about all this. You head up security for Amantus?”

“He’s lazy. He eats, drinks, whores around, but he doesn’t get much work done. That’s my job. In return he keeps me around and I get quite a bit of freedom…within reason.”

There was a thick scar across one cheek. He looked at it and wondered what she had seen in her years. He tried to figure out how old she was. “Did you see the war?”

“I was fifteen,” she said shortly, “I was in the city when it happened.”

He inhaled, wondering what all she had seen. “That must have been something.”

“I don’t like to talk about it.”

They were silent for the rest of the ride.

____

Lt. Kandros was the first to see the bomb on the dock. “Shit,” she said loud enough to attract the attention of the others.

Garrus groaned, “he rigged the whole place to blow us to shit.” 

Kaiden had already knelt beside the bomb. He worked away at the wires. Shepard stood slightly in front, holding her shotgun at the ready while Kandros and Vakarian charted a course.

“Can you get it Kaidan?” Gars asked for a moment.

Kaidan nodded, “We’re clear.”

“Good. We’ve got three more.” Garrus motioned. “Let’s move before they can get ready. We have five minutes.”

They found and disabled the second bomb without much trouble. The third was more difficult. The line of geth blocking their way seemed nearly impenetrable, but the little group made their painstaking way towards the explosives.

“That’s three out of four,” Kaidan said, standing.

Noreen groaned, “We’ve got sixty seconds.”

“Shit.” Shepard looked down the long row. “We’ve got another Juggernaut incoming. After that, I think we’re nearly clear. Maybe two more down there.”

Vakarian waited a beat, “Shepard can you handle this guy.”

“Go.”

Kaidan half turned from his position. “She’ll die,” he said reproachfully.

Shepard let out a snort of laughter, “I’ll be fine.” There was a glint of madness in her eyes. “Go. I’ll get him.”

She stepped out, holding a biotic barrier in front of her. In the distance she watched as Vakarian and Kaidan slid by. “Come on big guy,” she shouted.

The three soldiers were heading for the bomb. They were going to make it.

Shepard leveled her shotgun and fired. One, Two, three. She dove and rolled, hitting the floor. Pain shot through her shoulder. 

She held out a hand. The Juggernaut shuddered, resisting the lift. Shepard brought up her pistol and fired again. 

Almost out of shielding Shepard kept firing desperately. It aimed the but of it’s rifle at her and Shepard was sent crashing to the ground, crying out in pain. Something had cracked. She sent another bullet at the monster.

The Juggernaut faltered. Desperately, Shepard threw one last ball of biotic energy at the creature. It’s structure shuddered, and then, as if slow motion, began to collapse. Shepard didn’t stop firing until it stopped moving.

After she had caught her breath, she crawled to her feet. She looked at the pile of crumpled metal for a moment, worked her jaw and spent a wad of spit at it, before heading off to meet the Commander. 

Whatever battle they had fought, they had finished by the time she got there. Shepard spotted what must have been the beacon and nodded to herself. Mission accomplished.

Kaiden sat on the ramp and nodded at her. “Glad to see you made it. I was worried.”

Shepard sat down with a barely audible groan. “Yep. Still in one piece.”

“Sorry to pry, earlier. I don’t meet many other…I’m sorry.”

Shepard shook her head. “Forget it.”

“You’re a good fighter.”

“Thanks. You too.”

He smiled at her and she felt a blush rising to her cheeks. She looked away quickly, at the commander. He was talking with Nyreen about something, then pressed a button on his ‘tool. Nyreen walked away and Garrus took a step closer to the beacon steadying it. 

He could have lost his balance, but the angle of the fall was too strange. Shepard stood.

Garrus had stood barely a foot when she caught him and shoved him out of the way. It took a considerable amount of strength. Turians were heavy. When she straightened and tried to move away it was as if she had been caught by a rope. She fought it, but it’s pull only intensified as her boots slid along the ground. 

The beacon tugged her into the air, and she hung wide eyed before, it. She struggled but now she was completely immobile. 

Something like an electric shock ran through her body. She couldn’t scream.

The world went black.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m incredibly overwhelmed by the amount of love this story has been shown by all of you. Seriously. All of you are awesome and fabulous. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the update lovelies!

Kaiden leaned against one of the beds casually flipping through the data pad railing off facts. Garrus sat in one of the chairs beside the doctor listening. 

“Picked up at fifteen in New York. Sold as part of a bulk load to Tyrius Clavion. Small business owner, or some kind of bounty hunter I guess. He took down stray colonies and used his army of slaves to do it.” 

Garrus shrugged, “Can’t say I know much about it.”

“There’s not much here. They sound brutal.” He shook his head.

Garrus turned to the doctor. “Adrian, you said she was marked up?”

The doctor nodded, “she’s definitely had some rough handling. Had a cracked rib and a banged up shoulder when you brought her in. I went ahead and patched her up. Can’t do anything for the scarring. She’s definitely been beaten more than once. Are you sure it was good idea to buy her sight unseen?”

Garrus looked over at the still unconscious form, “It doesn’t matter what she looks like as long as she’s good with a gun. Besides, we need whatever that beacon put in her head.”

“I understand.”

They had taken her back to the ship after whatever had occurred with the beacon. Garrus still wasn’t sure how to describe it. One moment he had been looking at it, then he was being dragged towards it. If Shepard hadn’t pushed him aside he would be the unconscious one. Whatever had happened had destroyed the beacon. Hopefully the girl would have some answers when she woke up.

When he and Kaidan had reached her she had been out cold. She had let out one breathy whimper as Kaidan picked her up, and her eyes roved back and forth behind her eyelids. 

He had made the somewhat impulsive decision to purchase her on the spot. His father’s name and his own reputation had some pull and he had simply informed Amantus his slave was being requisitioned by the government, forwarded a seizable amount of credits, and sent Kaidan along for her things. Amantus hadn’t been happy, but what choice did he really have.

Garrus figure he would have to wait to see if his investment would pay off. Kaiden was the only one who seemed happy without reservation to hear she was joining the crew. Garrus couldn’t say he blamed him for taking a shine to her. There weren’t many females taken on by the turian military and Shepard had a strange charm about her. Adrian didn’t object, but he was put out about not being consulted.

Kaiden flipped through, “other than Clavion, four other owners. All of them were in government employment. She worked as a personal guard. Nothing here that suggests she didn’t do her job well.”

Garrus nodded. “Well, I’ll talk to her when she’s up and then we’ll see.”

Kaiden scanned another page and made a face. “Commander you’re going to have to take a look at this.”

He handed over the data pad and Garrus scanned it. “I don’t-“

“Bottom of the page.”

Garrus narrowed her eyes and glanced up. “What is this medication she’s on? I’ve never heard of it.”

Kaiden winced. “It’s called dust. Not sure what the medical term is. The mercenaries used it on kids they caught right after the war. It’s a drug that heightens biotic powers, but it’s highly addictive. Once your hooked you have to rely on the turians giving it to you to keep dosing you or go through withdrawal.”

Garrus was still hung up on what her training must have entailed. “Shit. So a bunch drugged up scared biotic kids. They probably melted like butter.” 

Kaiden took the data pad back. “Yeah. That was the point. Get’em young, get’em hooked, and teach them to be whatever you need. Then they stay reliant on you for the drug.”

Garrus could detect the note of bitterness in his voice. The human hung over the table looking down at the woman. 

“It’s worse,” Adrian interjected. “The drug induces severe anxiety in new users. At first it’s a bad trip, then you have to use it to stay normal. I would have brought it up if you had consulted me. I did take the liberty of stocking it after you informed she would be staying for a significant period of time.”

“Will it affect her skills at all?”

Adrian shrugged, “At this stage taking her off of it would be as cruel as putting her on it. She’d spike a severe fever, hallucinate, it would be painful. It won’t affect her performance. Some have even claimed it increases biotic skills in combat.”

“I see.” Garrus considered for a moment. She had been good to go on Eden Prime. He considered her vital to their success. He’d have to take her out again and see if it held. “Kaiden, you can leave,” he said, “I’ll need you when we land on the citadel.”

“Sure.” Kaiden hesitated, “I think she’s waking up.” He hovered over her for a moment. 

Shepard moaned. 

Adrian was by the bed in a heartbeat. Already the woman was struggling to sit up. Adrian, put a hand behind her shoulders and she visibly flinched away, steadying herself on the side of the bed.”

“What?” She said. She pressed a hand to her forehead. “I don’t..where…” 

Adrian started to speak, but Kaidan spoke first, “You’re safe. You’re on the Commander’s ship.”

“My master…” She said groggily, “I need to get back.”

“It’s okay,” Garrus said, “You’re authorized to be here.”

Aiden waved them away, “A moment with my patient please.”

Kaiden backed away. Garrus caught his eye and gestured towards the door. The man looked reluctant, but headed for the door. 

“How are you feeling?” Aiden asked, checking the vital signs on the monitor. “You were out for almost a day.”

“Not good. My head hurts and I-“ She cut off and looked around the room, worried.

“It’s okay,” Garrus said. “We think the beacon had some kind of message encoded in it.” He sought her eye even after she looked away. “If you saw anything at all…we need to know.”

Aiden handed her a glass of water and she drank thirstily. Then he held out a white pill. Shepard snatched it and swallowed it dry. 

“If she looks to be healthy," Garrus said, "could you give us a moment.” 

Aiden nodded, “Of course.”

After the door shut, Garrus looked at her expectantly. “If there was anything you saw, anything at all.” 

Shepard swallowed and looked down at her hands. “There was a dream…or a vision…something. It was- I can’t describe it. I saw something coming, there was blood…some kind of battle. It was awful. There was so much death.” She rubbed her temples. “It felt like some kind of omen...or prophecy....or something” 

“You couldn’t understand it?”

Shepard shook her head, “It was like…watching a vid in fast forward. But everyone was speaking a language you didn’t understand.”

Garrus wondered how best to present this to the Council. She read his disappointment on his face and tilted her head sideways, baring her jugular. “I apologize master. I couldn’t understand it.”

“Please,” Garrus held up a hand, “Sir is fine. I’ve taken you back to my ship, The Normandy. We’re on our way to the Citadel. I’m going to need you to help me give a report to the council about what happened.”

“What?” Shepard looked up, “The council is going to listen to some slaves nightmare?”

“I’ll decide what’s important.”

Shepard nodded. She looked as if she wanted to say more, but she held her peace.

“You saw what happened back there,” Garrus said, “we have to stop more people from dying. It wasn’t just turians dead.” He tried to infuse his words with passion. It was true. If it had been Nielson who had come through, he hadn’t left anyone, human or not, alive.”

“What makes you think they’ll listen to me?”

“Because I’m telling them to. People do what I tell them to.”

“Of course.” The woman looked down at her hands again. 

He hoped she understood. He new Nielson had become a hopeful figure for the human race. Every slave dreamed of freedom

“We’ll talk later. I need to know more about you, and if you’re suited for this mission.”

Shepard glanced down at her hands, “I’ve been a good servant to the turian empire, sir. There’s no need to question my loyalty. I’ve served since I was I was a child.” Her vice was guarded and defensive. 

Garrus held out both hands, trying to pacify her. “No one is questioning your loyalty,” he said, placatingly, “but we’re going after Nielson.”

“I understand.” She looked emotionless, but stretched thin, as if she had seen too much.

“I purchased you from Amantus before I left.”

Shepard’s head jerked up, “What?” she looked back down, “I mean…I am happy to serve. Only, I hadn’t expected…I thought…”

She heaved a sigh. Then her face flattened into an expressionless mask. “I’ll assume whatever duties you require.”

“Of course. For now, I sent Kaidan back to get your belongings before he left. He can show you where to sleep and get you settled. There’s no urgent business until we get to the citadel, so relax until then.”

Shepard nodded. She got to her feet and walked to the door. For an instant as she walked to the door Garrus saw an emotion flash across her face. The look of a woman lost. 

Garrus leaned against the wall and looked at the file again. Happy to serve she had said. He bet she was beyond thrilled to have been drugged and beaten into submission. Still, she hadn’t been phased about going after Nielson. Or maybe she just hadn’t shown it. He had seen the emotion beneath the mask. 

She was an interesting one to be sure. He was suddenly happy he had bought her.

—

For a moment during the vision Shepard had thought she was back in New York clinging to John and watching the city burn around them. It had been just a moment. She shook her head to clear the memories. It didn’t do to live in the past. John was gone. Earth was a distant memory. She needed to focus on surviving her now. 

The ship was all sleek metal and sparse sophistication. Most of the former masters she had served preferred lavish decor. Never in a hundred years would she have imagined that she would end up serving the Commander Garrus Vakarian. 

He had been just a kid at his first command during New York. He had figured out how to break the siege. When he had walked in they had found more than a million humans starving and still trying to fight. He had cut through them in a trail of fire and blood. 

If it hadn’t been for him things might have been different. They might have won, or at least they might not have fallen so far.

Shepard leaned against a metal wall, wrapping her arms around herself. And now she was working for him. That would be her luck.

“You okay?”

She looked up sharply. Kaiden stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets. 

Shepard straightened, “I’m fine.”

Over the years she had learned to fasten a mask, too look as if she didn’t care. This was a challenge though. In the past twenty four hours she had lost the position she had spent most of her life working towards. She now worked for a turian she hated. Not to mention watching two of her comrades be killed. 

Jenkins couldn’t have been older then sixteen and she had known Bhatia for years. She felt dizzy.

“You uh,” Kaidan stepped towards her, “you aren’t looking so good.”

Shepard said nothing. She wished this was her home so she could brush past him, gain the upper hand and find some place alone to process. Instead she stepped away from the wall and stopped, uncertain of where she should go, or where she was even allowed to go. 

“You must be starving and exhausted. Why don’t I show you your rack first? You can get settled.”

Shepard nodded and followed him through the fluorescent lit hallways. They went down a couple flights of steps until thy were in the belly of the ship. 

The room he showed her had two bunks but only the bottom racks were taken. One had her blanket from the tiny room she had lived in at Amantus’s house. There were foot lockers at the end of the beds. In the middle of the room was a weapons bench.

It was sparse, but Shepard recognized her quilt from her tiny quarters at her Amantus's house on the bed.

“The Commander sent me for your things. I put your stuff away. I hope you don’t mind.”

Shepard nodded, “it’s fine.”

She opened the locker at the end of her bed. Her armor was already neatly organized. The few off duty clothes she had were hung up. On the top shelf was her one real personal possession. Shepard reached up and took the book down. She flipped it open and smiled. Just as she had left it. Carefully she placed it back on the shelf. 

“Thanks for getting everything.”

“Of course.”

Shepard sat on the bunk and took a breath. “So we’re rooming together?”

“There’s not a whole lot of room on the ship.” Kaiden sounded apologetic. “Joker has a berthing higher up. He doesn’t really do flights of steps well.”

“It’s fine.” 

Shepard wished he would leave her alone for a minute. She needed to get her bearings. 

“Are you hungry?”

She was starving. Kaidan tossed her an MRE from a cabinet and Shepard set about unwrapping it. There were two chairs pulled up to the weapons bench. The two soldiers used it as a makeshift table. 

Thankful for the silence, Shepard dug in, mulling over her new living arrangements. Despite his reputation, Vakarian wasn’t half as intimidating as she would have expected. 

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. She could land on her feet, she was sure. She always did. The quarters weren’t bad. There was food. 

She had walked into situations before where the slaves of a certain turian would be constantly competing for his favors and affection. That didn’t seem to be the case here.

Everyone was civil thus far, but appearances could be deceiving. She decided if there was a war for dominance here she would win it. She had done it before.

It was always overwhelming, moving from one home to another. A new master, with new demands, always expecting that she would know what they were without ever stating them. She finished the bland barbecued beef and unwrapped the stale cookies.

“Has…” She hesitated unsure how to refer to her new owner, “has the commander mentioned what my job will be?”

Kaidan shrugged, “there’s always something. What are you good at? Know anything about computers?”

Shepard winced, “not much. I know more about machines. Used to take care of a Grizzly SX on one ship. I know a little about weapons systems to. Nothing like this, though.”

“You know anything about Makos?”

Shepard started to speak, when Kaidan’s omni-tool beeped. A crackly voice came over the comm speaker.

“Kaiden! We get a new recruit and it’s a girl and you don’t even call me? What the hell man?”

Kaiden colored. Shepard wiped her mouth with the napkin and neatly stacked her trash, hiding her smile. 

“She’s, uh…right here.”

“Is she pretty?”

“I mean, she is listening right now, at this moment.”

“Then you have a good view, so answer the damned question.”

Shepard raised an eyebrow, meeting his eye, challenging him.

“She looks pretty good.”

“Right on man! Bring her up here, I want to say hi.”

Kaidan cleared his throat, “definitely. We’ll be up in time to watch the approach.”

“Ok. Make me sound good, buddy.”

Kaiden shook his head. “Always.” He glanced up and Shepard. “Sorry. Joker’s an ass.”

Shepard shook her head. “It’s fine. When are we docking?”

Kaidan looked at his ‘tool. “We’ve got about twenty minutes to get ready and up there.”

Shepard nodded and stood, “We should get ready.”

“Right. The Commander will want us to touch down in armor.”

Shepard nodded and headed down the hallway to the small restroom reserved for humans.

The water was lukewarm, but it felt good to be clean again. 

It wasn’t odd, she decided to have her sleep in the same room as a male. The ship obviously had room for more humans in there that wasn’t being used, and turians were much less finicky about sex and gender then humans. 

Kaiden had given her directions back up to the bridge and given her privacy to dress in. Shepard savored the quiet for a few moments before slipping out of the room and up the stairs. She carefully avoided any of the turians. One of the first skills she had acquired after she had been taken was the ability to make herself invisible.

The bridge was crowded, but she waded through it while barely having to nod to anyone. She glanced at the dials and screens as she passed wondering what they could be. She had never been this close to the inner workings of a ship. 

When she had traveled with the slavers the bridge had been off limits. When she had traveled on shuttles with her other owners she had usually been confined to cargo holds. Vakarian must give his humans a pretty large degree of freedom. 

Up ahead she could see the stars. She stopped, staring. She had never seen them this close before. 

“Hey, amigo!”

At the end of the bridge a pilot swiveled around. 

“You’re just in time. We dock in five. Check it out!”

Shepard paced through the narrow hallway. “Holy shit.” She managed.

The citadel was larger then her mind could hold. A massive structure of folding arms three times the size of a city and buzzing with hover cars.

“You ever been to the citadel?” Kaiden asked.

“Yeah,” Shepard said, “but I’ve never seen it like this. Usually I’m below deck.”

Kaiden gave her a strange look. She could see he had questions. Joker pause a beat, working at the controls. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “We were here, what was it Kaidan? Six months ago? A year?”

Kaidan nodded, “something like that. We went to Blast-o.”

“What’s that?”

Joker stopped what he was doing and stared at her. “You’ve never seen Blast-o?”

Shepard shook her head. 

“The Jellyfish with a mission? Shoots six guns at a time? Breaks the hearts of beautiful sari everywhere?”

“Afraid not?”

“We’re going to have to have a movie night.”

Kaiden smiled. “I’ll pick up snacks if we have time.”

Shepard raised her eyebrows. She wondered if these humans had time to do things besides their jobs. “The Commander lets you do all this?”

Kaidan shrugged. “We do our job well and we get rewarded.”

“All in all,” Joker agreed, “The Commander isn’t a bad egg to work for.”

Kaidan sighed and muttered something under his breath. Shepard could barely make it out. “But slavery is slavery.”

Joker raised his eyebrows, not taking his eyes off the window. “Watch it there. We are on the bridge”

Kaiden shook his head. “Never mind…just…”

“It is what it is,” Shepard interrupted. “Can’t change it.”

Joker nodded, “exactly.” He pulled a lever on the control panel. The ship flew in further. More details appeared. Houses, businesses and streets became visible along the giant folded arms. Shepard could see trees and the holographic sky above the presidium in the center. 

 

“This is really amazing,” she commented. “Any idea where we’ll be going.”

“Shouldn’t be a long stop,” Kaidan said. “We need to report to the council on the beacon.”

“Explain we fucked up.”Joker said.

Shepard winced. “My fault.”

“Don’t worry. I think you impressed him. You wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Right.”

Joker nodded, “just tell the truth and he’ll back you up. Anyways, we’ve got to get permission if we’re going after Nielson. He’s under Asari protection so we’re going to have to have some evidence to back us up if we want to take him down.”

They were all silent. Most humans had heard of New Terra Nova. As Cerberus had risen to become the remaining bastion of the human empire, colonists had made a last dash to the terminus systems. Shepard had been there to board a few of them. 

New Terra Nova was a barely remembered dream of freedom. A lost hope come back to life. Everyone had viewed Nielson as a kind of legend. It harkened back to the idea that humanity could be it’s own, free people again.

Shepard let out a breath. “Well, it was a nice thought. I guess it had to end.”

Kaidan nodded, jaw clenched. 

After a long moment he tossed Shepard a metal bracelet. “There’s your ‘tool. You know how to use it.”

Shepard nodded and slipped it on. Almost immediately it beeped in synchrony with Kaidan’s. 

They both looked down. 

‘Commander wants us in the conference room. You ready?”


End file.
